A Princess of Two Worlds
by FaithInHim4ever
Summary: Takes place after "Ariel's Melody." Ariel helps Melody through her first teething experience while rellushing in the joys of motherhood. R/R


DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of the chars from TLM. They belong to Disney. I do however own Melody Noelle Coralsen.

God loves you

Enjoy!

A/N: Just a short one shot I thought of while finishing up "Ariel's Melody."

"A Princess of Two Worlds"

Ariel smiled as she gazed down at her four-month-old daughter, Melody Noelle Coralsen.

It was hard to believe it had only been three months since her birth.

Ariel and Eric had come up with Melody's middle name together.

They had agreed that Noelle went with Eric's last name of Coralsen nicely.

Melody giggled as Ariel picked her up. She loved it whenever her mother held her. She had begun to let Eric hold her more often, but she was happiest when she was with her mother.

The two were out on the balcony just relaxing.

Ariel loved bringing Melody out here and sharing some special time with her.

She couldn't wait for Melody to be a little older so she could take her to Atlantica, but she knew it would happen in the Father's time.

"Aw, Mel, you're gonna love it in Atlantica." She told her while using her special name for her.

She had called Melody 'Mel a few hours after she was born and the name stuck. Melody seemed to like it a lot. She smiled whenever she heard her mother use it.

As the sun started going in for the afternoon, Ariel decided it was time to go in for lunch.

She carried Melody inside and got her ready for lunch.

After she fed her and burped her, she sat with her in a rocking chair and sung to her until the child fell asleep for her afternoon nap.

"I love you, Mel. Mommy will see you when you wake up." With that, she left to see what Eric was up to. She knew he was probably working on plans for a new boat a neighboring community wanted him to build.

He had been working on the plans for a few days now. He was determined to get it finished by the end of the month.

Ariel knew he could do it, but she still wished he would take a break every now and again.

She found Eric in his study going over some plans.

Ariel grinned as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Are you ready to take a break?" She asked softly.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked as he turned around to face her. He kissed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Ariel shrugged as best she could in her husband's embrace.

"I just put Melody down for her nap." She informed him. "I thought we could just spend some time together either outside or in the den."

"I don't see why not." Eric said. "Come on." With that, he led the way to the den.

Once there, Ariel settled comfortably next to Eric on a couch.

The two started an easy conversation about anything and everything.

Carlotta had just served them lemonade and a few cookies when all three adults heard Melody start to cry.

"That's strange." Ariel commented as she stood up. "Melody usually sleeps really well. Maybe she had a bad dream." With that, she left the room to check on their daughter.

When she entered Melody's room, she found her daughter wide awake and crying something awful.

"Shh, shh…" Ariel soothed as she bent down and picked her up. "Melody, it's okay. Mommy's right here. What's the matter, sweetheart? Did you have a bad dream?"

Melody just continued to cry as Ariel hugged her close and put a hand through her fast growing chestnut brown hair.

This was strange in itself. The reason was, Melody usually calmed once she was in Ariel's arms.

"Okay, sweetheart. All right." Ariel said gently. "It's okay, Melody. It's all right."

It was then that she noticed the slight heat radiating off the child.

Putting the back of her right hand to Melody's forehead, she was dismayed to discover her daughter felt warmer than when she had put her to bed an hour before.

"I know, Melody. I know. You don't feel good, do you?" Ariel asked as she held her close and carried her out of the room. "Is my Melody feeling bad? Mommy's gonna try and help you feel better." She assured her. With that, she went downstairs in search of Eric.

When she got back to the den, she found Eric reading a book.

He glanced up when he heard her come in.

"Is Melody all right?" He asked.

"No." Ariel replied. "Eric, she feels warm. I think she might be sick." Ariel said worriedly.

Eric got up and checked for himself. He didn't take Melody from her mother though. He knew better than to try and separate them if Melody was afraid or something else was wrong.

"You're right." He said after he had checked the little girl for himself. "We need to try and get it down. Meet me in our bedroom." With that, he left.

Ariel went upstairs to wait.

While she did, she started singing Melody her favorite lullaby in hopes it would help ease the pain of whatever was going on.

Halfway through the lullaby, Melody spit up. This seemed to make her even more upset.

Ariel assured her she was okay as she cleaned up the mess and changed her outfit.

Once that was done, Ariel tried to feed her.

It became apparent five minutes into the attempt that Melody wasn't hungry.

"She's as stubborn as you." Sebastian commented as he came into the room.

Ariel looked up as Sebastian hopped onto the dresser.

"Sebastian, Melody's sick." She told him. "I don't know what's wrong. She was fine a little while ago."

Sebastian frowned in thought.

"Maybe she's teething." He suggested. "De same ting happened to you when you were her age."

Ariel mentally slapped herself in the forehead.

She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before.

Glancing down at her daughter who was content for the moment, she gave her a kiss and she stood up and carried her downstairs.

"Is that it?" She asked. "Are you getting your first teeth?"

Melody just whimpered a little as Ariel carried her into the kitchen.

Holding her with one arm, Ariel opened the freezer and got out something that one of Eric's friends had called a teething ring.

The teething ring itself was pink and blue with fish on it.

"Here you go." Ariel said as she placed the object in Melody's mouth. "There. That's better, huh?"

Melody gazed up at her mother as she sucked on the frozen treat.

"Now you can't eat it. " Ariel said with a soft laugh. "What do you say? Wanna spend some time outside? Come on. Let's see what's going on." With that, she carried Melody out of the house and down to the beach.

No sooner had she gotten there, she heard someone calling her name.

Glancing out towards the ocean, Ariel was surprised to see Aquata swimming towards her.

"Aquata, what are you doing here?" Ariel asked as she got closer. "Is everything okay back home?"

"Yeah." Aquata replied. "Everyone's fine. Can't I come and visit my baby sister?"

Ariel grinned.

"Of course you can." She set Melody down and the child started crawling towards the ocean.

"Melody, no." Ariel said as she gathered her daughter in her arms. "No water yet."

Aquata smiled at her niece.

"She's cute." She said. "Can I hold her?"

"Sure. But you need to come up here."

Sitting upon the sand, Ariel put her daughter in Aquata's arms.

"Be careful." Ariel advised. "She's a wiggler"

"Don't worry." Aquata assured her. "She can't be as bad as you were."

"Gee, thanks." Ariel said as she joined her sister. "So what's been goin' on back home?"

Aquata played with Melody while filling Ariel in on everything that was going on in Atlantica.

"Arista tried to what?" Ariel asked in between giggles.

"She tried to set Urchin up with a friend of hers."

"Which one?" Ariel asked as she caught Melody as the child crawled towards her.

Melody stayed still for approximately two minutes before trying to get out of Ariel's arms.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I can't let you go." Ariel gently explained.

As Melody continued to fight for freedom, Ariel gave her a slightly stern look.

Heaving a sigh, Ariel stood up with Melody in her arms.

"Aquata, I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to cut this short. She's determined to get the ocean and she's not old enough yet."

Aquata nodded in understanding.

"It's okay." She said. "Maybe I'll come and stay for the weekend."

"That would be great!" She exclaimed. She giggled just then.

"What?"

"Arista said she would never come up here again ever since that guy Jefferson dumped her."

Aquata laughed aloud.

"I still can't believe she was hitting on him."

"Melody, no." Ariel said again. "I better get her inside."

"All right. I'll see you guys on Friday." Aquata said. "Love you. Tell Eric I said hi."

"I will." Ariel promised. "Love you too." With that, she turned towards the house.

Halfway there, she heard a screech, followed by a crash.

"Sorry, sweetie." Scuttle said as he rubbed his head. "I always miss the turn."

"It's okay." Ariel said as she gave his head a pat. "What brings you here?"

"The north wind." Scuttle replied.

Ariel giggled.

"Aw, so that's the kid." He said with interest.

"Her name's Melody." Ariel told him.

"She's cute." He said. "When you get a little older, I'll show you what a dinglehopper's for."

"Don't listen to him." Ariel told her daughter with a sly grin. She turned back to Scuttle. "Unless Melody shows you first."

Scuttle followed his friend into the house.

Once they reached the living room, Ariel set Melody down and gave her a kiss.

"There you go. " She said. "Now you can crawl all you want. But no going into the kitchen." She said only semi sternly.

Melody giggled as she realized she was free.

Ariel sat down on the floor and pulled some of Melody's toys towards her in an attempt to gain her daughter's attention.

"Melody, look!" Ariel said as she demonstrated how to use a toy piano. "See? It makes pretty music." Without meaning to, she started playing her mother's lullaby.

Melody crawled over to her and pushed down on a few keys.

"Good job!" Ariel praised. "You need to be gentle." She reminded her.

"There you are." Eric said as he came into the room. "I thought I heard Scuttle around here."

"You did. " Ariel confirmed. "Aquata wants to come visit this weekend." She told her husband.

"That should be fun. " He said. "We can show her the new art megabit in town."

"I think she'd love that." Ariel said as she dumped some different colored blocks onto the floor.

Later that night, Ariel tucked Melody in bed and stayed with her for a while. She read her a story, sung her a few songs and patted her shoulder until she was asleep.

"Sweet dreams, honey." Ariel said as she stood up to leave. "I'll see you in the morning."

THE END


End file.
